Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It in Canada? Soft vs Hard Credit Checks (2026)

By the FixMyCredit.ca editorial team · Published November 1, 2026 · Last updated November 1, 2026

No, checking your credit score does not lower it in Canada: your own check is a soft inquiry, and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says it never changes your 300 to 900 score. Only hard inquiries, the checks lenders run when you apply, affect it, and they stay 3 years at Equifax and 6 at TransUnion.

Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It?

No: the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada states that checking your own credit report or score does not affect it, your check is a soft inquiry, and your 300 to 900 score stays exactly where it was.

The worry comes from one word, inquiry. Every look at your file is recorded as one, so people assume every look must count against them. It does not work that way. The record of your own look lives only on the copy of the report you see, and the FCAC's page on getting your report, read November 1, 2026, puts it in one line: checking your credit report or score won't affect your credit rating.

The rule holds however you look. Through Equifax, through TransUnion, through a score tile in your bank's app, once a year or every morning: none of it registers to a lender, and none of it moves the number.

What Is the Difference Between a Soft and a Hard Inquiry?

A soft inquiry appears only on the version of your credit report that you can see, while a hard inquiry appears to lenders, affects your score, and stays 3 years at Equifax or 6 years at TransUnion.

The FCAC calls them soft hits and hard hits. Soft hits include your own requests and a company refreshing an account it already manages, your phone or internet provider for example. Hard hits are the checks that follow a real application: a credit card, a mortgage, and some rental and employment applications. The table sorts the common cases:

One habit flows from that split. Look at your own file as often as you want, and treat applications as the thing you ration. If you are rebuilding a thin or bruised file, our guide to building credit in Canada starts from the same free checks.

Where Can You Check Your Credit Score for Free in Canada?

There are 5 free routes: both bureaus online, a mailed copy with 2 pieces of ID, a phone request, an in-person visit at some bureau offices, and the score view inside some banks' apps.

All 5 come from the FCAC's page on getting your credit report and credit score. The one wrinkle is the score itself: Equifax's is free in every province and territory, while TransUnion's is free in Ontario and Quebec.

Plenty of other companies will also show you a score. The FCAC's advice before handing one your details: research the company first, and make sure the address starts with https. The bureaus themselves never need a paid plan just to show you your own report.

How Many Points Does a Hard Inquiry Take Off Your Score?

There is no published number: neither the FCAC nor the bureaus post a fixed per-check point cost, and the FCAC simply lists how often you apply for new credit as 1 of the factors behind your score.

Anyone quoting an exact drop for every application is guessing, and we do not print guesses as facts. What the FCAC does warn about is the pattern: too many inquiries made too close together can make lenders think you are urgently seeking credit or spending beyond your means. The sensible read is that a single application is routine, while a burst of them is a signal.

So apply when you actually want the product, not to test the waters. A run of refusals costs more than the checks themselves, which is why the fix my credit plan starts with the report, not with new applications.

How Long Does a Credit Check Stay on Your Report?

A lender's inquiry stays 3 years at Equifax and 6 years at TransUnion, while information about late or unpaid credit cards and loans can stay for up to 6 years.

Those retention windows, all from the FCAC's page on how long information stays on your credit report, put inquiries in context. They are among the shortest-lived entries a file carries:

The heavier entries respond to accuracy work and time, not to worry. See when collections fall off a credit report and how to remove a collection that was reported in error.

When Do Several Credit Checks Count as One?

Mortgage and car loan quotes gathered within a 2-week window are treated as 1 inquiry by the credit bureaus, so shopping several lenders for the same purchase does not multiply the mark.

That grouping comes from the FCAC's page on improving your credit score, and it exists so that careful shoppers are not punished for diligence. The window protects quotes for the same type of borrowing gathered together; the same applications spread across 3 months lose the grouping and land as separate hard inquiries.

How Do You Dispute a Credit Check You Did Not Authorize?

An inquiry you do not recognize takes 3 steps: ask the lender named on the entry what it is, dispute it with both bureaus using their forms, and place a fraud alert on your file if nobody can explain it.

The FCAC's page on checking your credit report for errors and fraud is blunt about why this matters: an entry you do not recognize can mean someone applied for credit in your name. The bureaus must correct errors for free, and a fraud alert forces lenders to confirm your identity before approving anything new, though the bureaus may charge a fee for the alert itself.

Gather statements that prove your side, then work the process in our credit report dispute guide. If the investigation leaves you unsatisfied, add a free consumer statement to your file and escalate to your provincial or territorial consumer affairs office, which is where credit bureau complaints formally belong.

What Actually Lowers Your Credit Score?

Missed payments do the real damage, staying on your report for up to 6 years, while your own checks never register at all.

Put the attention where it pays. Pay every account on time, keep balances low against limits, and let accounts age. If a late mark on your file is wrong, you can challenge a late payment on your credit report. If the file is thin, a well-chosen tool helps: the best secured credit cards in Canada, the wider set of cards built for rebuilding, or the routes that work without a credit card at all.

Which Myths About Checking Your Credit Score Should You Ignore?

4 myths about checking your credit score come up again and again, and the FCAC's own pages answer every one of them.

• Myth: checking your score often flags you to lenders. Lenders never see your soft inquiries; the FCAC says they appear only on the version of the report you can see.
• Myth: you have to pay to see your score. Both bureaus offer free routes, and Equifax's score is free in every province and territory.
• Myth: every credit check costs the same fixed number of points. No per-check number is published anywhere, and soft checks cost nothing at all.
• Myth: getting 3 mortgage quotes triples the damage. Inside the 2-week window the bureaus treat those quotes as 1 inquiry.

What Should You Remember About Checking Your Credit Score?

Checking your credit score is a soft inquiry that never moves the number, it is free through both bureaus, and the checks that do count stay 3 years at Equifax and 6 at TransUnion.

• Your own check, through a bureau or a bank app, is a soft inquiry; the FCAC says it does not affect your credit rating.
• Hard inquiries come from applications. They affect your score and they fade: 3 years at Equifax, 6 at TransUnion.
• Both bureaus give free access online, by mail, by phone and in person; Equifax's score is free everywhere, TransUnion's in Ontario and Quebec.
• Mortgage and car loan quotes inside a 2-week window count as 1 inquiry.
• An inquiry you never authorized can be disputed free, and a fraud alert makes lenders confirm your identity first.

Checking the number is the first step; reading the file behind it is the one that pays. The full credit repair guide for Canada walks the dispute-and-rebuild sequence from there.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does checking your credit score lower it in Canada?

No. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says checking your own credit report or score does not affect it, because your check is recorded as a soft inquiry that only you can see. You can look as often as you like.

Is a credit score check from a bank app a hard inquiry?

No. A score shown inside a federally regulated bank's app is a soft view of your own file, and the FCAC lists it among the free ways to see your score. Only an application for new credit creates a hard inquiry.

How often can you check your credit score for free?

As often as you want. Equifax and TransUnion both offer free online access in Canada, and the FCAC says scores are updated at least once per month, so a monthly look catches every change.

Do lenders see soft inquiries on your report?

No. The FCAC says soft inquiries appear only on the version of your credit report that you can see. A lender reviewing your file sees the hard inquiries, the ones created by real credit applications.

How long does a hard inquiry stay on your credit report in Canada?

3 years at Equifax and 6 years at TransUnion, according to the FCAC's page on how long information stays on your credit report. That makes inquiries one of the shortest-lived entries on the file.

Do several mortgage or car loan quotes count as one inquiry?

Yes, when they land close together. The FCAC advises getting quotes from different lenders within a 2-week period for a mortgage or a car loan, because the credit bureaus treat these as 1 inquiry.

Can you remove a hard inquiry you did not authorize?

Yes. Confirm it with the lender named on the entry, dispute it with both bureaus using their forms, and place a fraud alert if nobody can explain it. The credit bureaus must correct errors for free.

Why did your score change when you did not apply for anything?

Because scores move with the file, not with your checks. Balances, limits, payment records and aging entries update at least monthly, so the number can shift between 2 of your own soft checks without any new inquiry.

Sources read November 1, 2026: the FCAC pages on getting your credit report and credit score, credit report and score basics, improving your credit score, how long information stays on your credit report, and checking your credit report for errors and fraud (canada.ca, each page dated July 1, 2026).

About Our Editorial Team

For general information only; not financial advice. Credit scoring factors and timelines are general guidelines, your results depend on your own credit profile. Confirm details with Equifax Canada, TransUnion Canada, and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.